1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door hinge assembly for a motor vehicle door including a door hinge having two hinge halves attachable, respectively, to the motor vehicle door and a respective motor vehicle door pillar, and a hinge pin for connecting the first and second hinge halves and supported in one of the two hinge halves with a running fit and removably secured in another of the two hinge halves without a possibility of rotation with respect to the another of the hinge halves, and a door lock formed integrally with the door hinge and including a locking element having at least one detent point and at least one brake and locking member cooperating with the locking element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There exist many variations of door hinge assemblies consisting of a door hinge and a door lock formed integrally with each other. In most cases, the door lock is mounted on an axial extension of the hinge pin and works together with one of the two hinge halves. However, limited by their construction, the conventional door locks, which are formed integrally with a door hinge, either cannot be used with demountable door hinges at all or, because of the particular construction of a demountable door hinge, when formed integrally with such a door hinge, the door hinge assembly with the integrated door lock require an increased space in the vehicle body. Besides, the known door hinge assemblies consisting of a demountable door hinge and a door lock formed integrally with each other are rather expensive. In particular, the door hinge assemblies consisting of a demountable door hinge and a door lock formed integrally with the door hinge are characterized in that the loading of the brake and locking member is effected with a torsional spring. And that is one of the reasons why such door hinge assemblies occupy an increased space in the motor vehicle body. There were also proposed door locks for demountable door hinges, the locking and retaining action of which is based on the use of a hinge pin having a non-circular cross-section, on one hand, and a non-circular cross-section of the gudgeon bore of a hinge half, on the other hand. Such door lock require very little mounting space, however, they are characterized by very high manufacturing costs. Besides, their use is accompanied by a certain uncertainty with regard to how long they can retain the door in its given hold-over position.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is a door lock for a motor vehicle door, which can be formed integrally with a demountable door hinge and which would require as little mounting space inside of the vehicle body as possible, while being produced with reduced manufacturing costs.
Another object of the present invention is a door lock, which can be formed integrally with a demountable door hinge and which is characterized by its operational reliability.
Yet another object of the present invention is a door lock, which can be formed integrally with a demountable door hinge and which would not affect the simplicity of the door hinge mounting and dismounting.
A further object of the invention is a door lock, which can be formed integrally with a door hinge and which is characterized by as noiseless operation as possible.
A still further object of the present invention is a door lock, which can be formed integrally with a door hinge and which is suitable for use with heavy motor vehicle doors.